Nassim Nicholas Taleb Quotes

Seize any opportunity or anything that looks like opportunity.

Bad-mouthing is the only genuine, never faked expression of admiration.

Half of life—the interesting half of life—we don't even have a name for.

From child births to hearses, flow like the Nile covered surface
Bit the fruit from the serpent.

Mistakes are bad; defending them is worse. It's better for you to be the one correcting them than others. Being self-correcting is #antifragile.
A clear conscience is invaluable.

The cult of the youth (by the youth) results from an elementary logical fallacy. If 90% of successful innovations come from the young, less than 1/1000 of innovations by youth work. Statistically, youth correlates w/mediocrity, sloth, physical weakness, & lack of creativity.

The general principle of antifragility: it is much better to do things you cannot explain than explain things you cannot do.

Meditation is a way to be narcissistic without hurting anyone.

Don’t tell me what you think, tell me what you have in your portfolio.

"There is something like a switch in us that kills the individual in favor of the collective when people engage in communal dances, mass riots, or war. Your mood is now that of the herd. You are part of what Elias Canetti calls the rhythmic and throbbing crowd." - Taleb

Progress, like evolution, must be neither too slow nor too fast. Too slow means extinction from lack of adaptation. Too fast prevents retaining the benefits of past improvements, hence, again, extinction.

"Born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne

Aging is losing enemies without replacement.

His idea is that if we were to optimize at every step in life, then it would cost us an infinite amount of time and energy.

Technology can degrade (and endanger) every aspect of a sucker's life while convincing him that it is becoming more "efficient."